Calif. Districts Get 3 Options To Spend $279 Million Grant

California school districts are about to share a $279 million
windfall from state lawmakers, but the new-found bounty is likely to
put many districts in the difficult position of choosing where to spend
the money.

The block grant will give each district $52 per student to be spent
on one of three categories: teaching aids, building maintenance, or
technology.

As school officials ponder their choices, a Washington-based trade
association representing the computer-software industry has mounted a
campaign to persuade school boards and administrators to use the money
to buy their way into the information age.

"The money isn't designated for technology per se, but it does
present an opportunity for local school boards to make an important
investment in promoting technology," said David Byer, the
education-policy manager for the Software Publishers Association.

In a related development, Gov. Pete Wilson last month signed into
law a bill that will require the state Public Utilities Commission to
transfer $17.5 million into the state's Education Technology Trust
Fund. The money will be used to upgrade the education-technology
infrastructure.

The $279.8 million block grant, part of the state's fiscal 1996
budget, will be distributed equally among the 1,074 California school
districts on the basis of average daily attendance.

Districts should have received their shares of the block grant in a
lump sum by last week, and, while some districts have just begun to
hold hearings to decide how to spend the money, others have already
made their allocations.

The Los Angeles Unified School District allocated $14.7 million of
its $31.5 million share of the grant to school discretionary spending,
a category which includes such purposes as school safety, professional
development, and technology purchases. Another $10 million went
exclusively to building maintenance. Only $1 million of the total
allocation was spent specifically on technology.

Marty Varon, the district's budget director, noted that officials
held five separate meetings to decide how to allocate the funds and
that because the district has a large number of year-round schools it
was necessary to allocate the money quickly.

A First Step

Nonetheless, many districts have yet to make their spending
plans.

The Software Publishers Association, therefore, has sent a letter to
roughly 4,000 education policymakers throughout the state, highlighting
"compelling reasons" to invest in technology, including improved
student achievement and motivation, the opportunity to offset the
state's paucity of classroom computers, and the ability "to ensure that
students who graduate from school today will have full command of the
tools needed to succeed in a dynamic economy."

Although it is far from a common practice, some states already set
money aside on a per-pupil basis for classroom technology
purchases.

Texas, a leader in the field, for example, allots $30 a student, a
total of $100 million annually, for districts to buy both hardware and
software. By comparison, the state spends $150 million annually on
textbooks.

Mr. Byer said the technology needs in California are, if anything,
more severe than in many other states. The nation's largest state ranks
48th, according to some estimates, in its ratio of computers to
students.

Some initiatives already have been launched to improve that picture.
For example, the Detwiler Foundation of San Diego, in partnership with
Pacific Bell, has expanded a program aimed at refurbishing used
computers for the state's classrooms. (See Education Week, March 8,
1995.)

But, Mr. Byer said, while Detwiler's Computers for Schools program
is admirable, it will not provide the kinds of cutting-edge technology
that will help California to meet the Clinton administration's goal of
connecting every classroom to the "information highway" by the end of
the decade.

Richard Whitmore, the state's deputy superintendent for finance,
technology, and planning, said he was aware of the interest that the
software publishers' group was taking in the block-grant money. But, he
said, "obviously, the point of a block grant is to let local people
decide where their need is greatest."

The software group, meanwhile, held a special briefing for
California educators last week at an annual National School Boards
Association meeting on technology to familiarize them with the
block-grant program.

"There were many important priorities that school districts need to
sift through," Mr. Byer said. "All we're trying to do is just inform
school leaders."

Mr. Whitmore added that even though the block grant could give
districts an important leg up in purchasing computers and software, it
does not represent the kind of continuing investment the state should
provide.

Vol. 15, Issue 09

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